This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Gas compressors are used in a wide variety of industries including aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, power generation, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, water treatment, and the like. The compressed gas may include air, nitrogen, oxygen, natural gas, or any other type of gas. Gas compressor systems generally include devices that increase the pressure of a gas by decreasing (e.g., compressing) its volume. Certain types of gas compressors employ one or more mechanisms that employ a rotational torque to compress an incoming gas. For instance, in a centrifugal gas compressor system, a gas is drawn into a housing through an inlet, the gas is compressed by a rotating impeller, and the gas is expelled from the housing. Often, the impeller or other rotating mechanism is driven by a rotating drive shaft that extends into the housing. In such a system, one or more seals are typically disposed around the drive shaft to minimize the amount of compressed gas that leaks around the drive shaft. However, certain gases (e.g., land fill gas) are extremely corrosive and harmful to typical seals used in centrifugal gas compressor systems. As such, centrifugal compressors tend to be used less frequently in certain applications (e.g., land fill gas applications).